Historic Hawaii Foundation Honors Photographer David Franzen

4/15/2020: Photographer David Franzen has been selected as the 2020 Frank Haines Award recipient for his outstanding contributions to historic preservation through documentation of the architecture, interior design, and landscapes of the Hawaiian Islands. His images capture people and places—private residences, museums, schools, hotels, corporate offices, military bases, cultural sites, bridges and parks—and reflect the dramatic development and social change Hawai‘i has experienced since the 1970s.

Franzen was born in Boston and raised in New York City, where he began his career as an apprentice of Ezra Stoller, a renowned architectural photographer.  In 1973, he started Franzen Photography and continued to work out of New York.  After completing assignments around the country and establishing his name in travel, architectural and interior photography, David relocated to Hawai‘i in 1978. While the body of his work expanded through editorial, documentary and corporate projects, the foundation of his business has remained architecture and interior design.

David’s beautiful images have appeared in countless advertisements, books and magazines around the world.  His published works include the books The Art of Mauna Kea and The View From Diamond Head, calendars for the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and booklets for Historic Hawai‘i Foundation.

Most recently, David has announced that he will donate his work to the Hawai‘i State Archives, helping to promote the understanding, appreciation and preservation of Hawai‘i’s history, aesthetics and architecture. The Library of Congress also has on file over 5,000 of his images in its Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey Collection.

Q&A with David Franzen

Please share how you decided to pursue photography as a profession and how you became interested in architecture.
My father was an architect and through him I met an architectural photographer, Ezra Stoller.  As a teenager my summer job was teaching sailing.  At 20, I was tired of that and asked for a summer job with Ezra.  He hired me for the summer. I did menial tasks but worked with a dedicated and enthusiastic group and learned a lot.  Not long afterwards, I dropped out of college (mid junior year) and went to work full time as Ezra’s assistant for about 3½ years.  I went out on my own in March of 1973.

What is your favorite thing about your career?
I’ve been fortunate to have been able to do a variety of work–architecture/interior, corporate, editorial travel, hotel PR, and others.  Perhaps, looking back over the years, the thing I appreciate the most is that my career has been a wonderful vehicle for a rich variety of experiences.

Please tell us about one of your most memorable shots or projects. So many memories…Riding a raft through the trans Ko‘olau transmission tunnel when shooting irrigation systems with Carol Wilcox.  Documentation on Midway Island (and meeting thousands of albatross!), aerial photography of Pu‘u O‘o during its eruption, going to Bangkok to shoot a hotel and experiencing an anthill of humanity and spectacular food, scooching through tunnels on the Upper Hamakua ditch. A vast array of architecture modern and historic, having shot the still active sugar fields of ‘Ewa as well as a number of the defunct sugar mills…I could go on.

What do you like to do outside of work?
Travel, sailing, spending time at my cabins on a lake in Maine and hearing the loons’ mournful cries.

How did you decide to contribute your work to the Hawai‘i State Archives?
I realized that I didn’t want to leave 47+ years of film, prints, negatives, CDs, DVDs, etc. for my son to have to deal with when I die.  It started as a hope that the State Dept. of Historic Preservation might want all my HABS/HAER/HALS projects.  Don Hibbard suggested talking to the Archives as DHP likely wasn’t equipped. Adam Jansen was happy to accept and also asked what else I might be willing to donate…I said, “Really? Are you sure?” And hopped right in.

What project are you currently working on/will be working on next?
I have a couple of new houses to photograph, several HABS and HAER projects–UH Manoa Snyder Hall,
Diamond Head Theater, two bridges along the leeward bike path here on O’ahu–and projects at Shangri-La and Bishop Museum.

What’s on your bucket list?

Hiking trip to Ireland/Scotland, Northern Lights and icebergs (if they’re still there!) in Greenland, putting personal photography in some kind of organized and accessible order…arg!

 

 

 

The 46th Annual Preservation Honor Awards Ceremony was originally scheduled to be held in May 2020. However, the current public health crisis caused by COVID-19 has resulted in postponement of the public event. A new date will be selected and notices sent at a later date.

About the Frank Haines Award for Lifetime Achievement

The Frank Haines Award for Lifetime Achievement was established in 2009 and named for master architect Frank Haines, FAIA. Historic Hawai‘i Foundation presents the award to individuals who have demonstrated sustained and outstanding achievements in the preservation of significant historic and cultural places of Hawai‘i.

FRANK HAINES AWARD PAST HONOREES

2019:    Māhealani Cypher
2018:    Robert Schleck
2017:    Don Hibbard, Ph.D.
2016:    Jane Kurahara & Betsy Young
2015:    Chipper Wichman
2014:    Glenn Mason, AIA
2013:    Spencer Leineweber, FAIA
2012:    Hal Hammatt, Ph.D.
2011:     William Chapman, Ph.D.
2010:    Billy Fields
2009:    Frank Haines, FAIA